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Description

Watermark:

Avers:

On the top is lesser coat of arms of Russian empire.

The lesser coat of arms of the Russian Empire under the reign of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia. The double-headed eagle represents sovereignty over both the East and the West, while the three crowns symbolise the conquered kingdoms of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia. Alternatively, they are interpreted as standing for the unity of Great Russia (Russia), Little Russia (the Ukraine) and White Russia (Belarus). The center is the escutcheon of St. George, surrounded by the collar of the Order of Saint Andrew, which was the highest order of chivalry in the Russian Empire. St. George would eventually become the patron saint of Moscow (and, by extension, of Russia). The wings bear the Arms of Astrakhan, Siberia, Georgia, Finland, Kiev-Vladimir-Novgorod, Taurica, Poland and Kazan, the provinces of the Russian Empire. The scepter in the left talon represents total secular authority, whereas the globus cruciger in the right talon represents total religious authority. (Russian coats of arms)

Lower is a fish circle.

Denominations in numerals are in top corners, in words on the right and left sides.

Revers:

Finish coat of arms (in Russian empire).

The arms were originally designed for the sarcophagus of Gustav I Vasa around 1580, depicting a gold heraldic lion on a red shield holding a raised sword in its right hand and trampling a curved sabre.

In the 1860s talk about a Finnish flag started in the fennoman movement. In 1863 numerous proposals were presented for a national flag. The two main proposals were flags based on red/yellow and blue/white. The flag proposals never had a chance to be presented to the Diet, so none of them ever became an official flag. However people used different designs with these colors for flags of their own choosing. Since 1821, merchant ships were permitted to fly the Russian flag (horizontal white-blue-red tricolor) without a special permit.

Denominations in numerals are on right and left sides, in words lower.